U.S. patent application number 11/020711 was filed with the patent office on 2006-06-29 for pulley assembly.
Invention is credited to Mijo Radocaj.
Application Number | 20060142102 11/020711 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36612477 |
Filed Date | 2006-06-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060142102 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Radocaj; Mijo |
June 29, 2006 |
Pulley assembly
Abstract
A pulley assembly in which either a hub or a bearing is attached
in the center of one or more pulleys either by rivets passing
transversely through overlapping portions of the pulley and the hub
or bearing. When fastening together a hub and a pulley, the pulley
has belt groove around the outer periphery and an annual web
extending radially inwardly from the belt groove. A hub has a
radially outwardly extending flange which overlaps the web of the
pulley and in one embodiment a plurality of rivets pass through
matching holes in the pulley web and the hub flange to fasten the
hub and pulley together instead of using rivets, the pulley web and
hub may be fastened together either with an adhesive layer or by
friction welding of adjacent surfaces of the pulley web and the hub
flange. When attaching bearings to a pulley an annular flange
extends radially outwardly from the outer race of the bearing and
overlaps a radially inwardly extending web of a pulley. The pulley
and bearing can be fastened together either by rivets passing
transversely through the pulley web and bearing flange or by
applying a layer of adhesive between adjacent surfaces of the
pulley web and bearing flange.
Inventors: |
Radocaj; Mijo; (Massillon,
OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PAUL E MILLIKEN
9061 WALL STRET, NW
MASSILLON
OH
44646-1676
US
|
Family ID: |
36612477 |
Appl. No.: |
11/020711 |
Filed: |
December 23, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
474/199 ;
474/170; 474/182 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16H 55/36 20130101;
F16H 55/50 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
474/199 ;
474/170; 474/182 |
International
Class: |
F16H 55/36 20060101
F16H055/36; F16H 55/49 20060101 F16H055/49; F16H 55/50 20060101
F16H055/50 |
Claims
1. A pulley assembly having a pulley and a central shaft engaging
member comprising: at least one pulley having an outer peripheral
rim and an annular web portion extending radially inwardly
therefrom and having a plurality of holes extending transversely
therethrough; a central shaft engaging member having a radially
outwardly extending annular extension with a plurality of holes
extending transversely therethrough spaced to be in alignment with
the holes in the web portion when the shaft engaging member is
positioned within the center of the pulley; and a fastening member
extending through each hole in the annular web and radially
outwardly extending annular extension to securely fasten the shaft
engaging member to each pulley in the assembly.
2. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft
engaging member is a bearing.
3. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the bearing has
an inner race, an outer race with a plurality of round bearing
members therebetween and wherein the radially outwardly extending
annular extension extends radially outwardly from the outer race of
the bearing.
4. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft
engaging member is a hub.
5. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the radially
outwardly extending extension extends radially outwardly from the
outer periphery of the hub.
6. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fastening
members are rivets.
7. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pulley is
constructed from a flat disk in which the outer periphery is split
and swaged while rotating the disk to form the outer peripheral rim
having a cross sectional configuration to correspond to a certain
designated belt cross section.
8. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the outer
peripheral rim has a substantially "V" shaped cross section.
9. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the outer
peripheral rim has a substantially "U" shaped cross section.
10. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the outer
peripheral rim has a substantially flat bottom shaped cross
section.
11. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the outer
peripheral rim has a substantially concave shaped bottom cross
section.
12. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the outer
peripheral rim has a substantially convex shaped bottom cross
section.
13. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the outer
peripheral rim has a substantially poly "V" cross section.
14. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein two pulleys are
mounted on opposite sides of the radially outwardly extending
annular extension of the central shaft engaging members and each
fastening member extends through aligned holes in the annular
extension and through the web of both of the pulleys to fasten both
pulleys to the annular extension.
15. A pulley assembly having a pulley and a central shaft engaging
member comprising: at least one pulley having an outer peripheral
rim and an annular web portion extending radially inwardly
therefrom and having a plurality of holes extending transversely
therethrough; a bearing having a radially outwardly extending
annular extension with a plurality of holes extending transversely
therethrough spaced to be in alignment with the holes in the web
portion when the shaft engaging member is positioned within the
center of the pulley; and a fastening member extending through each
hole in the annular web and radially outwardly extending annular
extension to securely fasten the shaft engaging member to each
pulley in the assembly.
16. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 15, wherein the pulley is
constructed from a flat disk in which the outer periphery is split
and swaged while rotating the disk to form the outer peripheral rim
having a cross sectional configuration to correspond to a certain
designated belt cross section.
17. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 16 wherein the fastening
members are rivets.
18. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 16 wherein the fastening
members are screws.
19. A pulley assembly having a pulley and a central shaft engaging
member comprising: at least one pulley having an outer peripheral
rim and an annular web portion extending radially inwardly
therefrom and having a plurality of holes extending transversely
therethrough; a hub having a radially outwardly extending annular
extension with a plurality of holes extending transversely
therethrough spaced to be in alignment with the holes in the web
portion when the shaft engaging member is positioned within the
center of the pulley; and a fastening member extending through each
hole in the annular web and radially outwardly extending annular
extension to securely fasten the shaft engaging member to each
pulley in the assembly.
20. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 19, wherein the pulley is
constructed from a flat disk in which the outer periphery is split
and swaged while rotating the disk to form the outer peripheral rim
having a cross sectional configuration to correspond to a certain
designated belt cross section.
21. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 20, wherein the fastening
members are rivets.
22. A pulley assembly as claimed in claim 20, wherein the fastening
members are screws.
23. A pulley assembly having a pulley and a central shaft engaging
member comprising: at least one pulley having an outer peripheral
rim and an annular web portion extending radially inwardly
therefrom; a central shaft engaging member having a radially
outwardly extending annular extension the annular web portion of
each pulley and the outwardly extending annular extension of the
central shaft engaging member each having an annular radially
extending surface in intimate contact with each other when the
shaft engaging member is positioned within the center of the
pulley; and a means permanently bonding the surfaces together to
securely attach the shaft engaging member to the pulley.
24. The pulley assembly as claimed in claim 23 wherein the means
permanently bonding the surfaces together is a layer of adhesive
the annular web and radially outwardly extending annular extension
to securely fasten the shaft engaging member to each pulley in the
assembly.
25. The pulley assembly as claimed in claim 23 wherein the means
permanently bonding the surfaces together is a friction weld
produced by the steps or rotating at least one of the surfaces
against the other at a sufficient speed to cause melting of
material on each surface, stopping rotation of any rotating
surfaces and allowing the surface to cool causing the liquid to
solidify and fuse together.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates generally to a pulley assembly in
which a bearing or a hub is fastened in the axial center of the
bearing and in particular to fastening the bearing or hub is
fastened by means of a plurality of rivets or alternatively by an
adhesive or by friction welding.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In the past is has been known to fasten two piece pulleys
together on each side of a bearing to hold the bearing in place.
One such example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,372 issued to
Donald D Dye.
[0003] Fastening a bearing or hub in a pulley made by splitting a
disk and spin forming it into a pulley requires a different
fastening configuration.
[0004] Various means have been used in the past to fasten a bearing
into the center flange of a pulley or other rotary object which has
been formed by splitting a circular disk and spin forming the blank
into a pulley shape. A separate bearing housing is then attached to
the pulley by welding staking or the like. The bearing housing is
formed as two cup shaped housing which are fastened together by
welding, rivets or the like to hold the bearing in place. Another
means of fastening a bearing in a pulley is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.
3,758,930 and 3,828,619 both of which are issued to Charles C Frost
et al. In both these patents, a pulley is formed by typical metal
splitting techniques having a central hub for receiving a bearing.
The hub is formed with two axially extending annular flanges, with
one being crimped radially inwardly at the same time it is formed
as shown in FIG. 4 of the '930 patent to retain one side of a
bearing when inserted into the hub, and the other axial flange
formed extending straight axially outwardly, then later crimped
around the bearing in a separate operation.
[0005] It has been found, however, that crimping each of the
flanges in two separate operations does not provide as tight a fit
around the bearing as when the flanges are crimped simultaneously
after press fitting the bearing into the hub, since there is less
area of surface contact between the hub and the bearing as shown in
FIGS. 6 and 7 of the '930 patent where it can be seen that there is
no surface contact between the outer circumference of the bearing
except where it is crimped around the outer circumferential corners
of the bearing. The angle formed by the split between the hub
flanges of the '930 patent allows the flanges to bend and open up
upon continued use of the bearing and hub assembly. This causes the
bearing to become loose and wobbly within the hub.
[0006] In U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,203 issued to Mijo Radocaj, the
present inventor has invented a machine for splitting and spin
forming a disk blank into a pulley. A similar pulley can be formed
for use with the present invention except the center periphery of
the pulley flange would not be split In contrast to the '930
patent, in the present invention it is not necessary to split the
radially inner circumferential edge of the annular web of the
pulley, since the bearing or hub is not fastened within the pulley
by crimping flanges of the pulley web. Instead a radially outwardly
extending annular flange is provided on a bearing or hub which is
overlaps the radially inwardly extending annular flange of the
pulley and the overlapping flanges are securely fastened together
either by rivets, an adhesive layer, or by friction welding.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to
provide a method and apparatus of inserting and fastening a bearing
within the hub of a pulley which provides a maximum amount of
surface contact between the bearing and the hub of a pulley.
[0008] Another object of the invention is to provide a method for
rapidly inserting and fastening a bearing within a hub of a pulley
without the need of press fitting the bearing into the hub and
simultaneously crimping the axial flanges of the hub around the
bearing to securely retain the bearing in the hub.
[0009] These and other objects of the invention can be readily
understood by referring to the following specification and
drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] This invention is a pulley assembly having a pulley and a
central shaft engaging member comprising: at least one pulley
having an outer peripheral rim and an annular web portion extending
radially inwardly therefrom; a central shaft engaging member having
a radially outwardly extending annular extension the annular web
portion of each pulley and the outwardly extending annular
extension of the central shaft engaging member each having an
annular radially extending surface in intimate contact with each
other when the shaft engaging member is positioned within the
center of the pulley; and a means permanently bonding the surfaces
together to securely attach the shaft engaging member to the
pulley.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of a
pulley assembly according to the invention with a pulley and hub
fastened together by rivets;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on line 2-2
of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of a
pulley assembly according to the invention with a pulley and hub
fastened together by an adhesive;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on line 4-4
of FIG. 3;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an
apparatus for fastening together a pulley and hub by means of
friction welding;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a vertical cross sectional view of a pulley
assembly with a pulley and hub attached by the apparatus shown in
FIG. 5;
[0017] FIG. 7 is a vertical cross sectional view of a pulley
assembly with a pulley riveted to a bearing;
[0018] FIG. 8 is a vertical cross sectional view of a pulley
assembly with a pair of pulleys riveted to each side of a bearing;
and
[0019] FIGS. 9 through 13 are vertical cross sectional views of
pulley assemblies similar to that shown in FIG. 7 except with each
showing a different cross sectional configuration of belt groove on
the outer periphery of the pulley.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] Referring to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1 and
2, a pulley assembly indicated by the numeral 20 has a pulley 22
and a hub 24 fastened together by rivets 26.
[0021] The pulley has a belt groove 28 extending around the outer
periphery thereof and an annular web portion 30 extending radially
inwardly from the belt groove 28. The web portion 30 has a
plurality of space apart holes 32 located around the web and
extending transversely therethrough.
[0022] The hub 24 has an annular body portion 34 and an annular
extension flange 38 projecting radially outwardly to overlay and
lie adjacent the web 30 when the hub and pulley are assembled
together. The flange 38 has a plurality of holes 40 which are
spaced to correspond to the holes 32 in the pulley web 30 to permit
the rivets 26 to pass through the flange 38 and web 30 and fasten
together the pulley and hub.
[0023] Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a pulley assembly 20a is
similar to the pulley assembly 20 except that instead of having
pulley 22a and hub 24a fastened together by rivets they are
fastened together by an adhesive layer 42 between adjacent surfaces
of a web 30a and a hub extension flange 38a. The adhesive layer can
be any suitable adhesive which bonds to metal and withstands the
temperatures which will be encountered by the pulley assembly when
in use.
[0024] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a pulley assembly 20b is similar
to the pulley assembly 20a except that a pulley 22b is attached to
a hub 24b by friction welding by the apparatus shown in FIG. 5. A
pair of jaws 44 and 46 are moved radially inwardly to grip the
pulley 22b and hold it in a fixed position. A pair of jaws 48 and
50 grip the ends of the hub 24b and moves it axially toward the
pulley 22b until it contacts the pulley. The hub 24b has an
extension flange 38b which has a vertical surface 52. A web 30b has
a vertical surface 54 which is contacted the surface 52 when the
hub 24b is moved against the pulley 22b. As the surfaces 52 and 54
come into contact, the jaws 48 and 50 rotate the hub 24b in the
direction shown by the arrows 56 generating heat between the
surfaces 52 and 54 and causing the metal to melt sufficiently on
the surface to weld together the web 30b and the flange 38b so that
when rotation is stopped and the surfaces cool the are welded
together due to the heat generated by the friction of the
parts.
[0025] Referring now to FIG. 7, a pulley assembly 58 has a pulley
60 and a bearing 62 attached thereto by rivets 64. The pulley 60 is
similar to the pulley 22 in FIG. 1 except that instead of being
attached to a hub it is attached to the bearing 62. The pulley 60
has a belt groove 66 extending around the outer periphery thereof
and an annular web portion 68 extending radially inwardly from the
belt groove 66. The web portion 30 has a plurality of spaced apart
holes 70 located around the web and extending transversely
therethrough.
[0026] The bearing 62 has an inner bearing race 72 and an outer
bearing race 74 which has an annular extension flange 76 projecting
radially outwardly to overlap and lie adjacent the web 68 when the
hub and pulley are assembled together. The flange 76 has a
plurality of holes 78 which are spaced to correspond to the holes
70 in the pulley web 68 to permit the rivets 64 to pass through the
flange 76 and web 68 and fasten together the pulley and hub.
[0027] FIG. 8 shows a pulley assembly 58a which is similar to the
assembly 58 except that instead of having a single pulley
containing a bearing two pulleys 60a are mounted on each side of a
bearing 62a having an inner race 72a and an outer race 74a. The
outer race 74a extends radially outwardly a sufficient distance to
permit a plurality of rivets 64 to pass through matching hole in
the outer race 74a and the web 68a of both of the pulleys 60a and
fasten them to the bearing 62a.
[0028] FIGS. 9 through 13 are substantially identical to the pulley
assembly 58 in FIG. 7 and all the parts are similar except that
each of the FIGS. 9 through 13 shows a belt groove having a
different cross sectional contour. In the interest of simplicity
all the individual parts being similar to the parts in FIG. 7 will
not be described individually but will be referred to as pulley
assemblies 58b, 58c, 58d, 58e, and 58f having respectively belt
grooves 66b, 66c, 66d, 66e, and 66f.
[0029] It may be seen that regardless of all these variations of
belt grooves the pulleys are attached to the bearing with rivets in
the same manner as that shown with the bearing assembly 58 in FIG.
7.
[0030] It should be recognized that all these variations of pulley
assemblies can also be attached to each other with an adhesive
layer similar to that shown in the pulley assembly 20a in FIGS. 3
and 4.
[0031] These and other variations in pulley configurations can
utilize the same fastening means shown herein without departing
from the scope of the invention.
* * * * *